KABISSA-FAHAMU NEWSLETTER 32 * 6362 SUBSCRIBERS
KABISSA-FAHAMU NEWSLETTER 32 * 6362 SUBSCRIBERS
The School of Journalism and Communication at the National University of Rwanda is looking for a lecturer for the 2001-02 academic year, beginning October 2001 for different undergraduate courses. Courses include Basic Skills for Media Writing; Writing for Broadcast Media and Broadcast production.
A new book — Challenging Inequities in Health: from ethics to action — draws together all of the GHEI studies into a 21 chapter resource on health equity. This volume provides new perspectives on the concept of health equity, empirical evidence on the scale and nature of health inequities in 13 countries and assessments of relevant policy developments and their implications.
A French language immersion offered in Montreal in collaboration with Vues d'Afrique, the largest festival of Francophone African and Caribbean film and video in North America. April 18-22, 2002. Fee: $425.00, includes pass to festival, orientation, classes, and discussions with filmmakers; materials, lodging and some meals. For more information, contact Julia Schulz, 207-594-7688 or [email protected]
This book is one of the few Arabic publications that deals exclusively with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its legal system. It addresses many sensitive legal issues relating to the ratification process of the ICC Statute, as well as the implementation of international criminal law norms throughout the Arab world.
In a letter sent to United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan last month, Barry R. Bloom, dean of Harvard's School of Public Health, proposed the creation of a "global HIV/AIDS pharmacy" that would help facilitate the purchase and distribution of AIDS drugs in African countries, the Boston Globe reports.
UNHCR completed on Monday the voluntary repatriation from Cameroon of 288 Chadians who had fled civil war in their country in the early 1980s.
Today, NUMSA NUM and MWU Solidarity signed the proposed collective bargaining wage agreement after the 21000 workers accepted the current revised settlement proposal from the Eskom company. Most of the workers scrutinized and ratified the proposed settlement package as representing the true, genuine and legitimate mandate of all workers.
Today, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) held a successful national bilateral meeting. This meeting discussed the following matters: A joint reflection and assessment on the current political situation and the context and its impact on the organised working class, the unemployed and rural poor from a working class standpoint; The state, role and political capacity of the trade union movement; The state, role and political capacity of the SACP; A joint reflection on the relation between the struggle to complete the national liberation of black people and the struggle for socialism in our country and internationally.
ALL public office holders and senior civil servants across the country who have not declared their assets as stipulated by law have been advised to comply or risk the wrath of the law. Giving this warning on Monday during a courtesy call on Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju in Awka , the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Capt Effiong Nsa (rtd) decried the attitude of such public officers who had not complied.
Parliamentary report points to the urgency of handling backlog of cases, most dating to 1998. The controversial special investigating unit, of which the new boss will be known next week, has its work cut out.
Post editor Fred M'membe yesterday refused to "co-operate" with the police in their "probe" of Edith Nawakwi's charges that "Chiluba is a thief". Two plain clothes police officers from Woodlands police station yesterday visited The Post offices to ask M'membe, deputy news editor Amos Malupenga and reporter Bivan Saluseki to report to the police station. "I have come to a point where I feel I have had enough of police harassment and abuse," M'membe said.
In 1995 the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women. The Platform reflected a new international commitment to the goals of equality, development, and peace for all women everywhere. the editors of the Journal of Social Work Research and Evaluation: An International Publication invite manuscripts that address one or more of the following Critical Areas of Concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action: Women and poverty; Education and training of women; Women and health; Violence against women; Women and armed conflict; Women and the economy; Women in power and decision-making; Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; Human rights of women; Women and the media; Women and the environment; The girl child.
Most email users have received their fair share of email petitions on topics ranging from the support of Afghan women's rights to ending the dolphin slaughter in Japan. These types of messages are frequently revealed as hoaxes or campaigns, but the question remains: why are email petitions such a bad thing in the first place? The E-Petition website explains why you shouldn't use, or forward, email petitions (ever!), and provides lots of great links that will legitimately support advocacy work online. For queries regarding this tip, or requests for tips, please write to [email protected]
The World Bank/IMF website on Annual Meetings is available on the website. A detailed calendar of events and background information on the various official meetings, press conferences, the Program of Seminars and other activities will be posted on this site. It will be updated regularly between now and the end of September, so you may wish to check it periodically for timetables, subjects and accreditation details.
"It is sad that, with its announcement about the pledges to the AIDS fund, the G8 conference was able to seize the PR high ground," an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer states. The commentary piece calls the G8's pledge of $1.3 billion to the Global AIDS and Health Fund created by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan "a comparative pittance."
A four-day conference addressing the issue of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa began yesterday in the Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan, Agence France-Presse reports. Simone Gbagbo, wife of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, said that the conference will allow the eight participating countries to "share their experiences" on fighting HIV.
The Zimbabwe Government has suspended all accreditation of BBC correspondents in the country, accusing the corporation of "distortions and misrepresentation". Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said he objected to a television report by Africa correspondent Rageh Omaar about a speech by President Mugabe earlier this week. The BBC says it stands by the report.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's embattled government is talking tough in the face of rising international pressure, but political analysts said its senior members are showing signs of worry over their future. Many are taking seriously threats of sanctions against Harare and want to lie low to distance themselves from Mugabe's controversial record, they said.
Bindura magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi on Tuesday threw out the State's request for the remand in custody of seven members of the MDC when they appeared before him facing charges of public violence.
The Group of Eight (G-8) major industrialized nations have outlined a series of measures to help reduce world poverty, particularly in Africa, and have pledged to continue discussions on how to address climate change and other global environmental issues.
The massive street protests in Genoa, Italy, this weekend have ended. Most of the estimated 200,000 to 300,000 who participated this weekend in demonstrations against the closed meetings of the G8 have returned to their communities. People around Europe and the world are debating what the protests meant, why they happened, what inspired such harsh reaction by the Italian police and where we all go from here. Many see Genoa as a crossroads for the alternative globalization movement, facing fragmentation from internal differences or increasing influence in challenging global forces of domination. In the aftermath of Genoa, a large number of posts on Indymedia turned to discussion of strategies and tactics, old and new.
As a service to the global newspaper industry, the World Association of Newspapers is providing extensive information from the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in a special section on its web site. The information includes executive summaries of all presentations, selected speeches, photos, and other data about trends, management, advertising and revenue, content, design and many other subjects of pressing concern to the newspaper community.
The members of Uganda Debt Network write to express consternation and profound shock at the high levels of corruption in Uganda as reported by Transparency International. As members of the civil society, we are deeply concerned about the devastating impact of corruption on the economic and political development of this country. The results of TI's survey indicate clearly that government institutions charged with fighting corruption are too weak and too overstretched to do their job effectively and efficiently.
According to Anthony Browne, health editor of the Observer, and a trustee of Population Concern, "there are many reasons to despise George Dubbya Bush. But as he tries to joke away his global calumny during meetings in London and in Genoa (at the G8 summit), little is heard of what can only be called his most pernicious international act. On his first day in office, he introduced a policy that is promoting Aids, encouraging maternal deaths, and increasing poverty among the world's most vulnerable people."
A new HIV/AIDS Advocacy Guide from IPPF outlines what advocacy can do, often at little cost, in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Produced for any NGO working in HIV/AIDS, the guide is aimed at helping groups to influence governments to change policy and law as well as reaching the private sector and community leaders who have a critical role in prevention and care efforts. Issues covered in the guide include involving people with HIV/AIDS, addressing groups at higher risk, HIV/AIDS in the workplace and best practices from FPAs.
Thank you. I offer you this quote, and the other articles you may download form my website.
-- "Forms are nothing when the substance is gone, and the forms of popular government are those from which the substance of freedom may most easily go. Political equality, co-existing with an increasing tendency to the unequal distribution of wealth, must ultimately beget the despotism of organized tyranny or the worse despotism of anarchy." - Henry George
UNICEF has announced a $190,000 grant to improve primary health care and education for girls in Kenya's Kwale district according to a report by the Nairobi Daily Nation (23 July). Nicholas Alipui, the agency's country director, appealed to parents to challenge outdated traditions that obstruct girls' rights and asked them to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.
People can lose faith in democracy and all institutions charged with good governance if corruption is rife, Human Rights Commission (HRC) member Justice Hamanzi has warned. Speaking during the launch of Transparency International (TI) Zambia on Friday, Justice Hamanzi said poor law enforcement could lead to civil wars in certain extreme situations.
No corrupt intent has been found in the awarding of tenders by the Botswana Televion (Btv). This was as a result of scrutiny by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) on a complaint by the Director of Television Training Institute, Billy Kokorwe who accused Btv of curruption and nepotism in the awarding of tender for the provision of post-production services and facilities.
In 1999 the government sold its purchase of R30bn of military hardware to the South African public on the basis of the ‘offset’ benefits accompanying its deal with international arms suppliers. The public were told that the deal would bring R110bn in direct foreign investment and 65 000 jobs. The Coega Project, to establish an Industrial Development Zone in the Eastern Cape, was held to be the biggest single beneficiary of this deal. Two years down the line not a cent has been invested in Coega as a result of the arms deal. Instead the South African tax-payer will foot the bill for the construction of a R4.5bn harbour in Coega.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are calling for a new, broader strategy to help people make well-informed choices about family planning and protection against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The new strategy urges efforts in five areas: government policies, communication programs, access to contraception, family planning program leadership and management, and counseling.
Mr. Ron Den Berg, the Royal Dutch/Shell Managing Director in Nigeria appeared today before the human rights violations investigation commission panel set up by the government in the country. Since October last year the commission has been investigating rights abuses committed before the present government in the country.
First of all I wish to congratulate you on your growing newsletter. Growing in subscriptions, length, depth and most of all in quality. Reading your newsletter is almost enough to be posted on the international matters that matter.
Despite all the the satisfaction I get from your newsletter, however, I do have one suggestion about the layout: Is it possible to deliver your newsletter in a more reader friendly layout, as a word document attached for instance?
OUR REPLY: Thank you for writing. We are glad you appreciate the quality of the newsletter - we work hard on it! We very consciously designed the newsletter so that it is accessible to subscribers that can read only plain text e-mail messages. The feedback from subscribers in Africa has been, by and large, very positive since it provides them with all the information they need on a weekly basis in a single e-mail. However, this stands in contrast to our subscribers in more "bandwidth-rich" countries who are accustomed to news websites and often complain about the newsletter being too long, containing too much information, and being too difficult to navigate. This tension is one we are very aware of, and we are continually on the search for solutions. We welcome input from our subscribers!
Greetings to you, I really like to thank you for the interesting newsletter that you are sending to me. I find it very informative and and more so out of this world. Please keep up the good work of enlightening the civil society of Africa and the rest of the world on issues of concern. I real appreciate your vision and insight to make the world a tiny web (globalisation).
The function of this newsletter is to keep you abreast of AAI's work and to bring you information and perspectives on Africa-related matters that are not well-covered by other major news sources. One such forthcoming event is the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), to be held next month in Durban, South Africa. Hence, this time we are featuring a piece about the WCAR authored by Lynn Huntley, the founder and director of the Comparative Human Relations Initiative, an examination of contemporary intergroup relations between persons of European or African descent in Brazil, South Africa and the United States.
A meeting convened by the Once and Future Action Network (OFAN) and the Radcliffe Center for Public Policy Center April 30 through May 1, 2001 discussed possibilities for closer collaboration among the global gender, science, and technology (GST) networks, and plans were outlined for future
activities. For further details contact ECOWOMAN.
The Third World Organization of Women in Science (TWOWS) has fellowships available for women scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries at Centres of Excellence in the Global South. It is a programme for female students to promote their effective participation in the scientific and technological development of their countries. The deadline is October 31, 2001. You can get more information, including the application, online or please contact Leena Mungapen, TWOWS.
Advances in agricultural biotechnology are being desperately promoted in the name of eradicating hunger and poverty. The misguided belief that the biotechnological silver bullet can "solve" hunger, malnutrition and poverty has prompted the industry and the development community, policy-makers,and economists to chant the mantra of "harnessing technology to address specific problems facing poor people". And in the bargain, it is forgotten that what the world's 840 million hungry need is just food, which is abundantly available.
The Once and Future Action Network (OFAN), a coalition of more than 100 organizations working on gender, science and technology, has reinstituted its newsletter on Women in Science and Technology. The current issue gives an overview of global GST networks as well as the activities of the OFAN regional focal points. The next issue will have an environmental focus. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please send a request to the new global secretariat, ECOWOMAN, Box 9874, Nadi Airport Post Office.
A new issue of the journal Gender, Technology, and Development on the topic of Gender Relations in Forest Societies is now available. You can read more about this journal, including article titles and authors online.
The International Gender, Science and Technology Digest is a bimonthly electronic newsletter that is useful for keeping current on events, resources, announcements and publications in gender, science and technology for development. To subscribe to this email list directly,
send a message to [email protected] with the message "subscribe" in the subject line or subscribe online.
A call to oppose the new draft Interception and Monitoring bill, brought before the South African Parliament last week, has come from anti-censorship organisations.
Informania Ltd, the world's largest electronic publisher of biomedical journals from the Third World, announced that it would provide the ExtraMED full-text database to developing country users for free or at very low cost, under the same terms as those announced last week by six leading medical publishers. It would also enable the distribution of this information through a new network of health information resource centres.
Recent atrocities against civilians in two districts of northern and eastern Sierra Leone are the most serious in several months, Human Rights Watch said today. These atrocities include the killing of over twenty civilians by pro-government militias.
The Burundi peace accord has been signed, but there's absolutely no peace, observes Monique Harbers.
Army mutineers staged a coup attempt in Bujumbura on Sunday night, ahead of a regional summit on the future of Burundi which began in the Tanzanian town of Arusha on Monday.
One of the surest indications that trouble is at hand is when diplomats start hiding behind catchy phrases and meaningless terminology. Participants and observers to the COP-6 Climate Change Conference here have been told that a "breakthrough," "deal," or "compromise" (take your pick) had been achieved.
Developing countries' delegates at the UN climate talks in Bonn regained diplomatic ground lost during negotiations last November in The Hague, says Ramesh Jaura.
The World Health Organisation says it is convinced that a proposed UN treaty curbing the use of tobacco will survive attacks from opponents.
Amnesty International is demanding an inquiry into the police violence against G8 demonstrators.
Concern has warned of a "potential catastrophe" in the Angolan city of Kuito as malnutrition and mortality rates rise among 300,000 people that have fled fighting in surrounding areas.
Chocolate companies in the West are finally starting to wake up to the reality that child labour is being used on the cocoa plantations that supply the companies with the raw material to make their chocolate. Some key players in the U.S. and Britain are starting to make noise on the issue, although they have a long way to go.
This wall promotes children's rights. It was created by children in South Africa. If you want to know how they did it, or how you might do something similar in your community, follow this link.
Another 20 schools have been closed over the last 72 hours as the education crisis continued to deepen. Eight secondary schools in Central Province were closed over the weekend following disturbances by students. This brings to 27 the number of institutions closed in the province this month alone.
The debt burden of the poorest countries helps keep children out of school. School fees make education an unaffordable luxury for the world's poor. But the G8 has failed to tackle the education crisis. Debt relief is not deep enough, and aid levels are falling. The world's richest nations should launch a global initiative to abolish school fees and get all the world's children into school.
Independent schools are not the exclusive enclave of the wealthy, but cater to many different communities, writes Jane Hofmeyer in a recent issue of Independent Education magazine.
A new mailing list for those concerned about things like intolerance, child abuse, the state of religion, minorities, social and cultural integration during their childhood.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has ordered leading members of former military regimes to hand back property they misappropriated from the state while in power.
Ethiopian authorities have suspended four senior politicians in the latest round of a campaign against corruption among leaders of the Horn of Africa country, officials said on Monday.
There is growing realization in programs around children affected by AIDS (CABA) that an essential component is missing - psychosocial support. From the 19th 24th. August 2001, a small group of practitioners and experts are meeting at Masiye Camp (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) to develop a working definition and to plan how to scale up program strategies for a regional response. We are launching this time-limited pre-think tank discussion forum. After the think tank this forum will continue to serve as a platform for specialized discussions around issues on PSS-CABA. To join the forum, please send a message to: [email protected]
Eight months after the murder of investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso, Mozambican journalists are afraid to cover sensitive stories, particularly those involving corruption, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Police shootings in Jamaica and Genoa are linked by underlying economic and social issues that don't receive the coverage they deserve, says News Dissector Danny Schechter, who calls for more media and public "overstanding."
The black population of South Africa is still at a disadvantage in access to media, conclude the authors of this scholarly paper on the relationship between media and democracy.
The following demands are being circulated for endorsement in advance of the mobilization at the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, DC in September/October 2001. These demands have been formulated by the 50 Years Is Enough Network, a U.S.-based coalition of over 200 organizations committed to the fundamental transformation of the IMF and World Bank, through consultations over 15 months with the members of its South Council.
Pfizer argues that the cost of drugs is simply not relevant to the issue of access to most medicines in the developing world, citing as evidence the low utilisation rates of very cheap generic drugs for pneumonia, TB and malaria. Oxfam accepts that the causes of the public health crisis in developing countries are complex. But limited access to life-saving drugs that are widely-available in rich countries is also central to any explanation.
Seventy eight (78) teacher trade unionist from Nigeria are stranded in Johannesburg because of the refusal of the Nigerian Embassy in Pretoria to clear them to be granted visas by the Thai government.
You are welcome to the 1st Nigeria Internet Interactive Conference organised by Women's Rights Watch Nigeria from the 9th August - 8th September, 2001. The First Nigerian Internet Interactive Conference on: THE ECONOMIC RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN NIGERIA - from rhetoric to action.
The Global Development Network is soliciting research papers and proposals in the area of HIV/AIDS and Delivery of Health Services for its Annual Awards Competition. Abstracts are now being accepted. Prizes of US$ 10,000 and US$ 5,000 will be awarded for the best research papers; full submissions are due by August 31. A single prize of US$ 125,000 will be awarded for the best research proposal; full submissions for proposals are due by August 15.
Lynn Huntley, executive vice president of the Southern Education Foundation, a public charity based in Atlanta, Georgia, writes: "No matter what the official documents issued by governments and the UN say or don't say, people of African descent and their allies can use the time together profitably and well. And whatever the official documents say or don't say, our work combating racism, inequality and related forms of intolerance will begin afresh when we all return back home."
Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply 2000.140 pages. ISBN 089608-607-0. WE547. US $14.00 Vandana Shiva
In a country where almost 70 % of schools are still without computers, SchoolNet SA has carved out a niche not just by making technology more available, but by focusing on historically disadvantaged schools.
Lettre d'information 30/2001
semaine du 28.07.01 au 05.08.01
Afework Tekle and Tebebe Yemane Brehan, received the most prestigious awards at St. John's College Cambridge University from the President of the American Biographical Institute (ABI) and from the Director General of International Biographical Center (IBC) at the 28th International Congress on Arts and communications, England held from 15th - 22nd July 2001.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, who is also Secretary-General of the Conference, said the Durban meeting would be "nothing less than a conference to discuss the core principles that should underpin this new century. It is an important opportunity for the world community to commit, for the first time in the post-apartheid era, to a truly global effort to address the ancient and the modern manifestations of this evil."
The United Nations refugee agency today said it was in contact with Turkish and Greek authorities over recent reports of a group of Africans allegedly "dumped" on the border between the two countries.
HIV/AIDS fact sheets produced by UNAIDS for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (25-27 June 2001) have just been published and they are available for download from the UNAIDS Web site.
The second International Conference on Children's Rights in Education will be conducted from 18-22 August 2001 in Victoria, Canada. The main aims of the Conference are to promote respect and support for children's rights and the full development of children through education. It will provide a structured exchange by international and national experts of information and perspectives on theory, research and practices relating education and children's rights.
An online Guide to the UN Trafficking Protocol is now available. The Guide is an initiative by CATW (Coalition against Trafficking in Women), MAPP, Article Premier, AFEM (Association des femmes de l’Europe méridionale) and the EWL (European Women’s Lobby). It will soon also be made available in French and Spanish.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) wish, at the outset, to express their support for the work of the European Union against trafficking in human beings and related exploitation. They do so from the viewpoint of two United Nations bodies with different but complementary mandates in this area. Both organisations believe that the present proposal to strengthen common approaches to this issue through the adoption of a Council Framework Decision is an important and timely step forward.
The U.S. State Department’s first annual report on trafficking in persons contains serious flaws, Human Rights Watch has said. "The State Department´s report is a real mixed bag," said LaShawn R. Jefferson, Acting Executive Director of the Women´s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. "We´re glad the U.S. government is finally paying close attention to this important human rights abuse. But the report has some major flaws that will need correcting the next time around."
PICUM, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, published a booklet (English only) as a result of the Experts Seminar on access to Health Care that took place on 22 and 23 March 2001. Representatives of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain exchanged their experiences in working with undocumented migrants. The publication contains besides a description of the situation in the above mentioned countries also a report of the discussions between the experts on themes such as the importance of professional confidentiality, the use of international regulations, the need for education in human rights. Copies of the publication (6.25 Euro) can be ordered at the PICUM secretariat.
President Robert Mugabe's cash-strapped government has awarded almost $1 billion in unbudgeted funds to war veterans following a 25% increment on their tax free monthly gratuities, The Standard has established.
Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change ran a gauntlet of violence, kidnappings and arrests at the weekend as the ruling Zanu PF party fought to ensure victory in a critical by-election.
Zimbabwean police detained the opposition candidate in a fiercely contested by-election for more than two hours on Sunday, the second day of a poll marred by widespread violence during months of campaigning.
Africa Action calls for the cancellation of Africa's foreign debt, which we consider in large part to be illegitimate, based on its origins and consequences. We consider the present and past attempts to deal with the debt crisis to be absolutely insufficient, and we oppose the existing debt relief framework, developed and controlled by creditors and designed to function only in their interests.
UNIFEM is supporting the African Commission's Special Rapporteur on Women and Violence, Julienne Ondziel-Gnelenga, to report on Violence Against Women at domestic, community and institutional levels, including women in conflict situations. Five field studies to assess the situation of women's human rights in Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are also being conducted. For more information, contact Hodan Addou, Programme Coordinator for East, Central and the Horn of Africa.
A Training Manual from UNIFEM (in pdf. format).
In Nigeria, two former ministers have been ordered to pay back the equivalent of more than $20m after being named by a commission examining corruption in Nigeria's cocoa sector.
Allegations around the controversial arms deal have prompted President Thabo Mbeki to earmark the issue of corruption for urgent attention - following a three-day Cabinet brainstorming session aimed at assessing government's progress over the last six months.
Excessive discretionary powers have contributed to the rise of corruption in Zambia, observed Auditor General Fred Siame yesterday.
In describing the death of an Odzi settler as murder, the state print media abandoned all the basic restrictions surrounding the reporting of incidents involving criminal charges. The purpose of these restrictions is founded upon the fundamental principle that accused individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The conduct of the state media in this case has pre-empted the court investigation and raises the question of whether the trial of the white commercial farmer involved in the fatal accident may have been compromised by such unprofessional coverage.
Under the project supported by The FUTURES Group International/POLICY Project Nigeria and the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA), Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria is conducting on the Nigeria-AIDS eForum, a six-month long open discussion of key HIV-related issues among HIV/AIDS activists and advocates as well as governmental, non-governmental, multilateral and community-based organisations in Nigeria.
A patch of bare earth dotted with smoking fires has become home to the hundreds of people who arrive each day at the displaced people's camps outside Camacupa in the Angolan province of Bié.
Former refugees reluctant to return to their homes in Kono District, eastern Sierra Leone, have agreed to temporary relocation to the southern area of Taiama, UNHCR Information Officer Isa Blyden told IRIN on Friday.
Kenyan Minister for Trade and Industry Nicholas Biwott, an influential figure in the government of President Daniel arap Moi, has criticised the aid conditions imposed on Kenya as impractical, and suggested that they smack of double standards.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has announced the full make-up of his new cabinet following parliamentary elections last month. The list contains few new faces and includes 10 ministers who failed to win seats in the election but who can hold office by presidential appointment, the BBC reported.
As villagers of Guru Guru in northern Uganda fled an attack by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), one man found himself surrounded and trapped inside his home. Unable to escape the armed rebels, Faustino Onek was abducted and forced into the bush, where he was tortured, stabbed and finally had his left arm amputated. Onek, a community elder and grandfather to 27 children, had met at least one of his attackers before: it was his nephew.
Opposition politicians, religious groups and civil society groups have come out against the cabinet line-up of President Yoweri Museveni, endorsed by parliament on 19 July, saying it was not representative of different groups in the country, despite Museveni's promises, the 'EastAfrican' newspaper reported on Monday.
A member of the Akazu, the inner circle of former president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyrimana, and also the president's brother-in-law, was arrested on Thursday at the request of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), an ICTR statement said.
The atmosphere at the Thursday meeting between President Buyoya and Zuma, was described as "good" by Buyoya's spokesman, Appolinaire Gahungu.